54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133
Rutgers Law Review Summer, 2002 54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 LENGTH: 8077 words uncle. We were permitted to take only the clothes on our backs. I also brought a doll which I still keep as a CLUSTER VIII: CULTURAL AND dubious keepsake of my single act of counter- POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUES IN LATCRIT revolution. The arrangement was seemingly simple. THEORY: To the People Sitting in Darkness: A My family, my parents and siblings, would join me in Resolve for Unity and Integration* a few weeks to begin our brief stay in the United States * This title is borrowed from Mark Twain's anti- while we waited for Castro's inevitable fall, becoming imperialist essay, "To the Person Sitting in one more family to join the "frightened legion of the Darkness."Ana M. Otero** dispossessed." n1 BIO: I never saw my family again until 1967 - five years ** Ana M. Otero teaches law at Thurgood Marshall later, when my father arrived and died all in the month School of Law and serves as Associate Municipal of September. Fortunately, in 1962 I was both too Court Judge for the City of Houston. I am indebted to young and too naive to appreciate the full impact of Alicia Abreu, who read my paper and offered this separation. My family was too desperate to foresee invaluable suggestions, to Michael Olivas for his the possibility that we would not see each other again support and mentorship, and to my research assistant, until I was a grown woman. This gross miscalculation Nathaniel Savali for thorough and comprehensive of Castro's longevity, [*1134] coupled with the research. unfounded belief that the United States would SUMMARY: ... On April 29, 1962, at the age of intervene to save Cuba, would have enduring and far- eleven, I fled Cuba and entered the United States as a reaching consequences for Cubans within and Cubans political exile - an enemy of the revolution. ... The without. n2 story of the Cuban revolution should best be told by II. Introduction those on whose backs it was built: by the millions of Cubans who live in strife and abject poverty; by the international army of Cuban mercenaries who fight and Almost forty years later, Professor Alicia Abreu asked die around the world in pursuit of Castro's lofty ideals; me to participate in "Cubans without Borders," one of by the founders and the followers of the revolution; the concurrent panels to be held at the Sixth Annual and, by the Cubans who have relinquished freedom LatCrit Conference. n3 One of the purposes of the and endure intellectual and political oppression, and program was to "take the long foreshadowed step of who continue today to live meager and austere lives in affirmatively and self-consciously exploring the links the name of solidarity, unity, and the homeland. ... that bind Latina/o Communities in the United States to Having just left a conference which focused on the their homeland societies, cultures and economies and desolate reality of Cubans in the island and the how the impact of such globalization informs an uncertainty of its future, it struck me as offensive to articulation of LatCrit theory and discourse." n4 As a see Cuba portrayed as a tourist paradise; exploited, Cuban-American academician, I found this objective again, for the benefit of greedy investors and the thought-provoking; from a personal perspective, I Cuban political elite. ... History will tell whether we found it difficult to explore and emotionally traumatic. will unite to salvage the dignity of a nation and the Most of us in the panel had never met, and in an effort spirit of a trodden people from the ashes and whether to prepare for the conference, Professor Abreu, as our our children will hear Marti's words in their dreams: ... moderator, encouraged us via electronic mail to exchange ideas and to explore the topics we wanted to develop. n5 The [*1135] discussions that ensued [*1133] among us were telling and revealing; all laden with I. Prologue personal stories and filled with individual drama. All of us shared concerns about the Cuban dilemma. All of
us also appeared to feel a collective, ambiguous, but On April 29, 1962, at the age of eleven, I fled Cuba palpable melancholic duality; a need to desperately and entered the United States as a political exile - an assimilate and be assimilated, but an equal fear of enemy of the revolution. I was accompanied in this losing our ethnicity; a lack of full identity with the overt act of insurrection by my five-year old cousin and I was sent to New Jersey to stay with my aunt and
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 United States, with an equally full lack of have endured the separation and destruction of connectedness to our roots - our homeland. families, the fragmentation of our identities, and the immutable sense of being homeless and alone. In the late 1950's, most of us who participated in the panel were mere children. Our parents made the I am not a historian. I make no presumptuous attempt irreversible and enduring decisions that changed our to add to the vast lore of Cuban history. n8 But destinies. The immediate effect of the Cuban because I believe ardently in the many inherent powers Revolution on our lives was brutal and chaotic. We of storytelling, n9 I make a simple gesture in the spirit were caught in a political whirlwind. In its path, it of LatCrit n10 to recount my story, a journey shared uprooted families, separating parents from children, with so many [*1137] other Cuban Americans; an pitting brothers against each other, and hurling us onto attempt to begin to assess the inevitable path of foreign lands to find our separate ways. In these new reconciliation which must take place if Cubans from lands, we were forced to learn new languages, new within and Cubans from without are to live in cultures, new values. Those of us who were young harmony. assimilated quickly the new ways, but confronted This essay draws from the discussions of the LatCrit parents who held stubbornly to the memories and were panelists on the topic of "Cubans Without Borders" obstinate to change. We became an inextricable part of and expands on the thoughts shared at the conference. an event that has now spanned fifty years and which In the backdrop of the schism created by the Elian forced a seemingly insignificant Caribbean island to Gonzalez saga n11 among Cuban Americans, the the forefront of history. emotional frenzy spawned among the Miami exiles, The Cuban Revolution may have discrete symbolic and the advent of imminent political change in Cuba, it meanings for the world at large. To developing nations is incumbent upon us to begin to discuss paths of struggling to found their own freedom, it may inclusion, unity, and integration. represent a model to admire and emulate. To leftist Part I is my story and explains what being a "Cuban scholars, who observe and analyze world events from Without Borders" means to me. Part II provides a brief the comfort of their upscale homes in industrialized overview of the political events that preceded the nations where milk and honey abounds and to whom Cuban Revolution. Part III looks at the many voices of "ration cards" n6 and "period of rectification" n7 are the revolution today. Part IV explores the possibilities only words, our revolution is a panacea to Third World for the future of the pueblo Cubano and Cubans in the ills. But there are many truths that can be perceived diaspora. from the same story; and there are many different ways to perceive the same event. III. Cubans Without Borders: A Personal Story The story of the Cuban revolution should best be told by those on whose backs it was built: by the millions The borders of a country create a construct of national of Cubans who live in strife and abject poverty; by the unity. The institutional memories of identity, culture, international army of Cuban mercenaries [*1136] social, and political values forge an impenetrable bond who fight and die around the world in pursuit of and infuse strength and ethnic pride. [*1138] When Castro's lofty ideals; by the founders and the followers you are forced to leave your homeland as a political of the revolution; and, by the Cubans who have exile, the foundation of this construct is shaken, and relinquished freedom and endure intellectual and with the passing of time the bond becomes tenuous and political oppression, and who continue today to live frail. Eventually, you forget the depth and breadth of meager and austere lives in the name of solidarity, your language, the scenic images of your country unity, and the homeland. But it should also be told by become hazy and dull, the childhood memories fade, Cubans who were "dispossessed." For despite what and the threads of life in your country - the lullabies, this revolution may mean to the world at large, to us it the songs, the poetry, the music-are forgotten. means primarily that we have been destined to live But often times, citizens of a country live in abject without our national borders and to cling desperately to poverty, beseeched by strife and in the shadows of memories of a tenuous past while adapting to a economic and social progress. For them, the national newness that will always bear traces of the unfamiliar. borders may not have the same significance. For while Stranded from our roots, we persist in living our old presumably they enjoy the privileges of identity and ways; separated from childhood memories, we strive to national pride, the consequence of poverty and teach our children the little we remember. We live dual inequity is to create veritable borders which they lives: one foot in the homeland, and another in our new cannot escape. Rather than being instilled with pride world. Not enough Cuban, but never completely part and a sense of unity, the citizens become isolated and of the inevitable new world that seeks to engulf us. We "dispossessed" within their own borders.
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 This, too, could have been my story. The irony is that parents did not welcome this event and our separation, the revolution caused me to live without borders in the despite the fact that I barely knew them, affected them sense of losing a homeland and struggling with my deeply. Although my adoptive mother is the only national identity. Had I lived the life that was intended mother I have ever really known, I nevertheless always for me, I would have remained in my country felt a silent bond with my biological mother, and had surrounded by insurmountable borders of strife and struggled for many years with a sense of rejection and deprivation. unanswered questions that separation brought by the Cuban revolution had exacerbated. I was adopted at birth. My biological mother was a woman who lived in a rural area in the interior of In 1978, I felt compelled to visit my biological mother Cuba. She had fled to Havana seeking freedom from a in Cuba. I will omit from this essay the emotional domineering, possessive husband, and a life of bitter trauma this trip caused me, but what I found after sacrifice. She married for a second time in Havana and twenty years of revolution was not much different by the time I was born she had already borne ten other from what I had left in 1962. My mother had suffered children. My mother worked as a maid in the home of surgery as a result of a brain tumor that occurred in the a Spanish businessman in Havana who owned a late 60's. She was prostrate and paralyzed on the right factory and who lived a life of prosperity and wealth. I side of her body. Her living conditions were as meager was born in this house and adopted by this family. and desolate as they had been twenty years before. Throughout my childhood years, and until I left Cuba Because of poor medical treatment and the lack of at the age of eleven, my adoptive family took me to physical therapy, she never walked again. The house visit my natural parents. In retrospect, I don't think I was the same one I used to visit as a child and with thought of them as my parents, but rather as a very some minor exceptions, it was virtually unchanged. poor family that we were helping out. Although my Conditions were worsened, however, by Castro's memories are fragmented and perhaps tainted by a veil economic debacle; in a speech made in late 1980 of evasiveness and the innocence of youth, I remember Castro told the Cuban people that "[they] would have with pain the striking comparison of our homes. I lived to endure shortages of the most basic foodstuffs and in a beautiful home that my father built for my mother; clothing for the foreseeable future." n14 It was during a massive structure of stone. The house was a this period that "[the] average Cuban [was] rationed testament to her sense of beauty and design. Filled two [*1140] pounds of meat per month, one and one- with walls of glass and sparkling granite floors, half pounds of chicken per month; two ounces of winding stairs led to a second floor where balconies coffee every fifteen days; four meters of cloth per year; wrapped around the house in a setting of lush tropical two packs of cigarettes per week; one pair of shoes, gardens. I had a nanny who took care of me and whom one pair of trousers (or one dress), and two shirts a I remember with love and affection. I attended a year." n15 private catholic school and I wore beautiful and My mother was sometimes moved to a makeshift expensive clothes. My biological family lived only wheelchair and the rooms in this small house were minutes from my home, but their lives were quite stifling. I visited the "American" store n16 and paid $ different. Their house, devoid of even the most simple 150.00 for an 8" oscillating fan; the type you get here of necessities, had dirt floors, no bathroom, no air for $ 12.00. I paid equally exorbitant amounts of conditioning or screened-in [*1139] windows, little money for foodstuffs and canned goods. Inevitably, I furniture, and no running water. On the few occasions I felt guilty giving my dollars to Castro, but compelled spent the night, I remember with despairing clarity the to do what I could for my mother. It is difficult to whole family sitting around in a dimly lit room sustain ideology in the face of such abject poverty and shucking tons of corn so that my mother could make hopeless misery. "majarete," n12 which my father would sell out of a bike-driven cart. I don't know what level of education, In 1978, as spartan as things were, most Cubans were if any, my mother had, but I know my father could still able to obtain foodstuffs and medicines by relying neither read nor write. My siblings walked miles to on the black market. This had become a way of life. school. The children in the neighborhood were dressed American dollars, which many Cubans received from in rags and were always without shoes. their families in the states or exiles traveling to the island, would go far in the underground market that During my childhood years, my adoptive family was to had been created by sheer need and desperation. But, me my "real" family. My surname, Otero n13, was the as ominous portent of the unprecedented austerity that only name I had ever known. Accordingly, when the would befall the next decade, in 1980, 10,000 Cubans revolution erupted it was assumed that I would leave stormed the Peruvian embassy in Havana seeking with them as their daughter. But, after many years of political asylum, resulting in the Mariel boatlift, which struggling with this, today, I realize that my birth
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 eventually brought 125,000 refugees to Miami. In officially exported." n23 In comparison, other "French 1981, when President Reagan was inaugurated, the and English sugar colonies ... had about six hundred United States instituted some of the most hostile larger plantations." n24 But Cuba had few suitable policies against Cuba. And subsequently, in 1986 and rivers to power the water mills, and in addition, Spain 1990, Castro launched his "campaign of rectification of did not serve as a large-scale home market for the errors," n17 and the "special period of peacetime," n18 commodity. n25 respectively. My [*1141] [*1142] mother died Politically, control of the island rested with the during the former. She left this world as she entered it; captain-general, the father of a small, poorly paid suffering in silent stoicism the ravages of inequality, bureacracy of officials appointed by Spain who injustice, and oppression. expected to gain profits from graft and corruption and IV. A Brief History: Prelude to the Revolution return to their country wealthy. Many, however, stayed in the island and mixed with the criollos. n26 By the
eighteenth century, many of these Spaniards residing 1962, the year of my sojourn into a foreign land, was for generations in Cuba had created their own blend of heralded by an ominous pronouncement made by criollo aristocracy - wealthy land and plantation Castro: "I am a Marxist-Leninist and I shall be one to owners who seldom visited their own homeland. n27 the end of my life." n19 It was a prophecy that would be long-lived. This prophecy marked the beginning of In 1762, England declared war on Spain and Havana a new year which would speed precipitously to the was invaded by a British expeditionary force which culminating event of 1962 - the Cuban Missile Crisis. occupied the island for almost two years. As a result, n20 How such paucity of thought and vision could myriad merchants from the British empire converged survive the patent writings on the wall could only be in Cuba, opening its markets to foreigners. As a direct attributed to desperation. For in retrospect, this myopic consequence of the British conquest, Cuba was collective view shared by many exiles that Castro transformed into a prosperous sugar colony. n28 would fall was grounded on fallacies, disbelief [*1144] During the period of the Napoleonic Wars, mingled with denial, and an imprecise understanding 1792-1815, Cuba continued to prosper despite of the perilous road that led to the revolution. restrictions imposed by Spain. n29 Demand for sugar, On New Year's Eve 1958, when I was seven years old, tobacco, and coffee increased as trade between the Cuban dictator, Sergeant Fulgencio Batista, fled the United States and Cuba grew. n30 island. The next day, the Cuban people exuberantly By the mid nineteenth century, Cuba was "the richest and with renewed hope welcomed the Cuban and most populated of Spain's two remaining Revolution. While, historically, January 1, 1959 marks American colonies." n31 The majority of Cuban elites the beginning of the revolution, to fully appraise the by the late 1860's had begun to favor independence political and social structure that catapulted Cuba into from Spain. n32 A number of factors converged to four decades of communism, one must fully forment the spirit of revolution: A nationalistic understand the long process of oppression and sentiment had been fueled by contemporary subordination by Spain, United States, Cuban dictators, philosophers and poets who echoed a growing and [*1143] opportunistic foreign investors. opposition to the tyrannical abuses of Spain and its The discovery of Cuba in 1492 heralded four hundred continued enforcement of an archaic colonial years of foreign intervention and colonization by the commercial system; n33 a weakening slave trade - an Spaniards. During the sixteenth century, the first group integral part of the sugar production; n34 and a decline of slaves arrived to work in the Jagua gold mine, in the economy due to increased competition in the French pirates plundered the island and Castillo del market for sugar. n35 Morro, the strategically situated fort designed to repel The war of independence of 1868 was led by Cuba's attackers and located above the eastern entrance to the landowning aristocracy in direct revolt against Spain's Havana harbor was completed. n21 political control; n36 its main objective was to gain By the end of this century, despite some battles by the Cuban sovereignty and independence, but it was indigenous Indians, Tainos or Ciboneys, the Spaniards impeded by a lack of political organization and had spread throughout the entire island and native cohesiveness. n37 The Ten Year War (1868-1878), Indians had been absorbed or wiped out by disease or Jose Marti, Cuba's quintessential hero and poet, argued repression. n22 was "lost only through a lack of preparation and unity." n38 "The revolution, [he] insisted in 1882, is By the mid eighteenth century, there were about a not merely a passionate outburst of integrity, or the hundred small sugar plantations producing about gratification of a need to fight or exercise power, but "5,000 tons of sugar a year of which only a tenth was
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 rather a detailed understanding dependent on advanced The "Machadato," as this era was called, resulted in the planning and great foresight." n39 revolution of 1933, and its revolutionaries, unlike Marti's in 1898, "combined rejection of foreign [*1145] The war with Spain that ended in 1898 left domination with demands to transform the local an island ravaged by unparalleled savagery and political economy by ending large landholdings, destruction, and a country of warriors weakened and nationalizing public services, regulating foreign spent from their bloody effort. However, the struggle investment, and protecting the rights of workers." n52 for sovereignty was lost when the United States installed a provisional government, and occupied the From 1933 to 1952 Cuba appeared to be moving island from 1898 to 1901, and subsequently intervened toward democracy. n53 But the series of puppet in 1906-1909, 1912, and 1917. n40 presidents and shadow governments that ruled the island until Batista regained power in 1952 were On February 11, 1901, the Constitution of the Republic ineffectual in making significant social reforms or of Cuba was adopted. n41 Just a month later, in portent bringing cohesiveness, unity, and order to the country. of a long legacy of subordination, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Army Appropriation bill Sergeant Fulgencio Batista's final reign of power from with the Platt Amendment as a rider. n42 Despite 1952 to 1958, not unlike that of his predecessors, was ardent opposition and efforts to revise its language, the characterized with endemic government corruption and Platt Amendment was accepted by the Cuban dishonesty, political instability, brutal violence, human Constitutional Convention on June 12, 1901. n43 rights violations, and graft. But his dubious and most memorable claim to fame in our history may be for Cuba's first President, Tomas Estrada Palma, elected to [*1148] "building Havana's tourism industry by office in 1902, brought honesty and integrity to inviting gangsters such as Meyer Lansky to construct government and a path of stability characterized by casinos, helping to fund their enterprises and taking a economic recovery appeared to emerge. n44 But four large chunk of the proceeds for himself." n54 "[His hundred years of subordination by the Spaniards, the personal] plundering ... weakened Cuba's treasury and ravages of war, a lack of political maturity and demoralized the army." n55 experience in self-governance, and new economic and political footholds by the U.S. quickly dispersed any The lure of nightlife and gambling brought thousands hope of continued independence, and in 1906 Estrada of American tourists and investors n56 to Cuba. And Palma, plagued by unrest, invoked the Platt while on the surface Cuba prospered, the economic and Amendment hurling Cuba again under foreign socio-political reality was much different. Years of intervention. n45 endemic government corruption and political instability, overt poverty in rural areas, and a division [*1146] Cuba's short period of independence from of classes that was becoming more striking, coupled 1902 to 1959 was marred with U.S. interventions, n46 with rampant decadence in regime created a fertile fractious political groups, incessant rebellions, ground for Castro's revolution. n57 unfettered public corruption, economic instability, erratic sugar price fluctuations, and a succession of V. 40 Years Of Revolution: The Many Voices Of presidents "whose terms were characterized by Oppression venality, nepotism, incompetence, graft, and despotism." n47 In the dawn of the 21[su'st'] Century, after 40 years of [*1147] By 1922, the country had experienced the Cuban Revolution, there are many "truths" that serious economic troubles and the U.S. investment in emerge; each inseparable from the experience of the Cuba had increased drastically. n48 The economic beholder. debacle awakened the nationalist spirit as Cubans To the third world, itself struggling for independence, realized how vulnerable the nation was to economic economic self-sustenance, and the attainment of civil forces and the degree of American domination. n49 rights, the Cuban model represents the solution for the General Gerardo Machado, a veteran of the war of "multifaceted, social, economic, and political problems independence, an energetic, and tough liberal man was of development." n58 elected in 1925. n50 Machado brought order and stability to Cuba during his first term in office, but To the Cuban exiles, homeless and bereaved, forty personal ambition and greed would hurl Cuba into 8 years of [*1149] solitude have not quelled their years of political oppression, endemic corruption, desperate hatred for Castro's regime and they remain random assassinations, gangsterism, and the first full solidly planted in the anti-Castro, anti-communist dictatorship of the republic. n51 rhetoric. Their loss, personal and real, is imbued with an emotional fury that is unforgiving and intransigent.
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 Many avidly support the U.S. embargo, and the most "To The People Living In Darkness": A Resolve For recent Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Unity And Integration (Libertad) Act, known as the Helms-Burton Act, which was signed into law on March 12, 1996. n59 To them, At a newsstand in the airport, on my way home from the revolution is an ignominious historical event this past LatCrit conference, I was struck by a devoid of redemption or absolution. magazine cover of a beautiful beach with sparkling clear blue water and white sand set against a cloudless To the Cuban people, the masses, people like my blue sky. Walking on this idyllic paradise was a tall, biological family, who have endured austere years of slender blonde woman. The cover read: "CUBA - The unprecedented rigors, it can no longer foster a spirit of Best Resort Hotels, Nightclubs, Restaurants, and Much hope. Today, they confront a stark and bleak reality More." n62 As I read through the magazine, I which forty years of failed promises and exhortations discovered the beach is located on an island called can no longer hide. Cayo Largo, 115 miles southeast of Havana, where the In June 1997, the Cuban Dissidence Task Group Spanish Hotel group Sol Melia is managing a $ 25 released to the world a document entitled "The million, 296-room resort called Sol Club Cayo Largo. Homeland Belongs To Us All," n60 a lengthy n63 repudiation of the present government. The issue containing a special report on Cuba In it, the group examined a document prepared for the portrayed beautiful pictures of the new resorts, quaint V Congress of the Communist party and attacked its restaurants, and other well-known sites like the Hotel import as deceitful and manipulative. In scathing Nacional; as well as articles for the well-versed eloquence, it vilified the main objective of the current traveler. n64 The opening line of the article: regime: [*1151]
The philosophy of the government is not to serve the Brightly colored bungalows in pastel shades of pink, people but to be their dictator. It is not its main turquoise, violet and lime green shine brightly in the objective to guarantee the citizenry a quality of life Caribbean sun, a stone's throw from the shallow, warm which has a minimum of decorum. Power, exercised sea and powder-like sandy beach. A few windsurfers through totalitarian control, is the end that is being race across the early afternoon chop, while a smart pursued with this political ploy. No longer is anyone sportfishing boat and large catamaran bob up and fooled by the much-touted call to social justice. The down in the distance. People stroll along the water's wage rates combined with the stagnation of other edge. Children play and build sand castles. Two men economic factors makes the situation of the populace sit on the beach sunbathing, drinking cocktails and more difficult each day. And the more they deteriorate, smoking cigars. n65 the more economic activities are politicized and militarized. n61 Having just left a conference which focused on the
desolate reality of Cubans in the island and the [*1150] And then there are the Cuban elites uncertainty of its future, it struck me as offensive to composed of members of the Communist Party, its see Cuba portrayed as a tourist paradise; exploited, high ranking officers, its affiliated mass organizations, again, for the benefit of greedy investors and the the military, the government bureaucracy, the state Cuban political elite. What made me feel a deep sense security apparatus, and the judiciary. Their position, of embittered anger was the stark contrast this too, is intractable. Entrenched in forty years of rhetoric description bears to the overt poverty and sacrifice the against capitalism and the evils of imperialism, they Cuban people must endure in their daily lives. The perpetuate their ideologies through their rituals of average Cuban lives in deplorable, miserable oppression, and exhort the masses to sacrifice for unity conditions under the thatched or tin roofs I saw in my and the wellbeing of the homeland. Their lives, mother's neighborhood, where malnutritioned children however, are very different from that of the masses; go to sleep hungry, the water is undrinkable, and wallowing in privileges, they rule from a place remote young prostitutes sell their bodies to tourists in from hunger and strife. Their legitimacy rapidly exchange for the barest necessities. eroding as the egalitarian philosophies they spew resonate with hypocrisy in the face of increasing These luxurious resorts widely advertised in the U.S. economic desolation and human devastation. and the world are created by foreigners for the sole enjoyment of foreigners. Cubans are not only barred VI. from visiting these areas, but those who work there are forbidden from mixing with the tourists. n66 Tourism,
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 which most countries covet and which typically Inevitably, Castro will die soon, and the spell he has provides wealth to the national citizens, in Cuba cast on four generations of Cubans will dissipate represents one more flagrant anomaly of a system that quickly. It is unlikely that Cuba will ever again see a simply has failed and one more reason as to why this ruler of Castro's proportion; whose objectives, regime must come to an end. grounded on his self-assigned messianic role, were to a large degree [*1154] to attain power to assure a place Whether Castro has achieved his lofty goals of for himself in history. n69 eradicating [*1152] poverty, illiteracy, and health problems, defending the country from foreign Despite the unfounded presumptions of Cuban exiles, domination, and bringing equality and dignity to Cuba it is unlikely that they will storm the island and force is also arguable. Whatever achievements may have Cuba to immediately revert to democracy. Neither its been made have been eradicated by forty years of pre-revolutionary history, nor the last forty years political indoctrination, economic mismanagement, predict this outcome. It is also unlikely, however, that isolation, dependence on the Soviets, and utter the new cadre of leaders born and raised in the throes depravation, which have left the island and its people of the revolution will relinquish power and swiftly spent and defeated. Cuba today is in a worse shape substitute recalcitrant rhetoric and socialist ideologies. structurally and economically than it was when Batista But the fall of communism worldwide in the last fled the country in 1958. And at the close of this first decade is a powerful omen that may dictate the new decade of the twenty first century, most of the people path Cuba might take. It is not impossible within my who remember the inequities of the 50's will be gone. lifetime to see Cuba reach a measure of stability and The only people who will be left in Cuba are those for prosperity. It depends on how much these new leaders whom this government has been the only government have learned from the continued failures of the past they have known, and the only government that has and how willing they are to make the necessary failed. n67 compromises to rebuild not only the nation but the spirit of its people. The glaring question is how Cuba can move towards a future of freedom, stability and prosperity in the face The economic reality is that Cuba will probably of so many past and present obstacles; and more continue to rely on the already entrenched foreign importantly, can it ever aspire to do so devoid of investments in order to prosper, but the question internal civil strife and independent of foreign remains can it do so without allowing foreigners to domination? again usurp political power, and can it use this growing foreign investment to its economic advantage. The history of Cuba has not set a fertile precedent for these objectives. It is clear from the record, that after Finally, the role of the United States is an obvious fighting bloody wars to gain independence from Spain, concern. The past has proven that its active Cubans were unable to establish a government free of involvement in the shaping of Cuba's history has not corruption and graft, or produce leaders that could lead always been impeccably selfless. A long and hard the nation into stability and equality. And despite its embargo, and the last forty years replete with incessant lofty aspirations, Castro's relentless "periods" of anti-imperialist indoctrination may present a serious economic austerity and his machinery of obstacle to forging new alliances. Whether the United institutionalized oppressive tactics continue to ask the States is willing to participate and cooperate in the unthinkable of people who survive on imagination process of renewal, and whether this new generation of driven by sheer desperation but whose minimal needs leaders can rise above the imperialist rhetoric and are barely satisfied. Castro's government presumably negotiate shrewdly and with cunning a relationship on founded on egalitarian principles has shamelessly equal footing, will undoubtedly affect the future of reverted to the endemic exploitation of the 1950's, Cuba. [*1153] dimming and breaking the soul and the spirit Cubans in the diaspora have much to offer to this of the people. depleted nation and its people who live in darkness. Two LatCrit scholars have already offered solutions History will tell whether we will unite to salvage the for the future. n68 I agree with both that any changes dignity of a nation and the spirit of a trodden people in the current regime will inevitably involve from the ashes and whether our children will hear participation from Cubans in the diaspora, and Marti's words in their dreams: reconciliation, to be feasible, will require mutual respect and understanding for the divergent paths Let us rise up so that freedom will not be endangered traveled by Cubans within and Cubans outside the by confusion or apathy or impatience in preparing it. island during the past forty years. Let us rise up too for the true republic, those of us
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 who, with our passion for right and our habit of hard Hotel & Conference Center, Gainesville, work, will know how to preserve it... . And let us place Florida. around the star of our new flag this formula of love n4. LatCrit VI, Substantive Program triumphant: "With all, and for the good of all." n70 Outline, Latinas/os and the Americas:
Centering North-South Frameworks in FOOTNOTE-1: LatCrit Theory (Apr. 26-29, 2001) (on file with author) available at n1. Louis A. Perez, Jr., On Becoming http://personal.law.miami.edu/
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 bibliography see Louis A. Perez, Jr., The towards a collective goal. Fortunately, the Cuban Revolution Twenty-Five Years previous dearth of latina/o scholarly voices Later: A Survey of Sources, Scholarship, has gradually eroded, and thanks to the and State of Literature, in Cuba: Twenty many talented pioneers, there is an Five-Years of Revolution, 1959-1984, at eloquent abundance of articles explaining 393 (Sandor Halebsky & John M. Kirk the inception and meaning of LatCrit eds., 1985). In his eloquent scholarly style, theory and the legacy it seeks to leave. See, Perez divides and lists the vast literature e.g., Elvia R. Arriola, LatCrit Theory, produced in what he calls two predominant International Human Rights, Popular categories: pre-revolutionary political and Culture, and the Faces of Despair in INS diplomatic history of Cuba from the late Raids, 28 U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev 245 nineteenth century to mid twentieth (1996-97); Berta E. Hernandez-Truyol, century. Id. at 394. This literature Indivisible Identities: Culture Clashes, prompted by the Cuban Revolution forced Confused Constructs and Reality Checks, 2 historians to rely on the only accessible Harv. Latino L. Rev. 199 (1997); Berta E. records - document collections in U.S. Hernandez-Truyol, International Law, depositories. Id. at 395. These limited Human Rights, and Latcrit Theory: Civil resources skewed and influenced the and Political Rights-An Introduction, 28 U. historical research and the consequent Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev 223 (1996-97); literary effort. The second major category Elizabeth M. Iglesias, International Law, and the most extensive covers works Human Rights and Latcrit Theory, 28 U. dealing with basically every facet of the Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev. 177 (1996-97); revolutionary period. For more recent Francisco Valdes, Foreword: Latina/o literature, see Louis A. Perez, Jr., supra Ethnicities, Critical Race Theory, and note 1; Marifeli Perez -Stable, The Cuban Post-Identity Politics in Postmodern Legal Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy Culture: From Practices to Possibilities, 9 (1993); Cuba: A Short History (Leslie La Raza L.J. 1 (1996); Francisco Valdes: Bethell ed., 1993). For an anthology of Foreword: Poised at the Cusp: LatCrit contemporary Latino/a fiction featuring the Theory, Outsider Jurisprudence and work of twenty-nine writers from diverse Latina/o Self-Empowerment, 2 Harv. ethnic backgrounds including many Cuban Latino L. Rev. 1 (1997); Francisco Valdes, writers, see Iguana Dreams (Delia Poey & Under Construction: LatCrit Virgil Suarez eds., 1992). Consciousness, Community, and Theory, 85 Cal. L. Rev. 1087 (1997). n9. So, stories -stories about oppression, about victimization, about one own's n11. The reference is to Elian Gonzalez, brutalization - far from deepening the the six-year old Cuban boy who was despair of the oppressed, lead to healing, rescued by two fishermen when the boat liberation, mental health. They also carrying his mother and other Cubans promote group solidarity. Storytelling escaping the island was wrecked. Elian, the emboldens the hearer, who may have had sole survivor, was turned over to his the same thoughts and experiences the relatives in Miami who sought to have him storyteller describes, but hesitated to give stay in the country. The legal battle as to them voice. Having heard another express whether he should stay in this country (as them, he or she realizes, I am not alone. presumably his mother had yearned to do), or whether to return him to his father in
Cuba prompted a long and vitriolic debate Richard Delgado, Storytelling For among Cubans, spawning a media circus Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for of international proportions. See Berta Narrative, 87 Mich. L. Rev. 2411, 2437 Hernandez-Truyol, On Becoming the (1988). Other: Cubans, Castro, and Elian - a n10. The spirit of LatCrit is boundless, LatCritical Analysis, 78 Denv. U. L. Rev. tolerant to diversity, and receptive to 687 (2001). incessant change. To me, the beauty of this n12. A popular Cuban dessert made with movement is that it allows us personal corn. expression and to move individually
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 n13. I was "informally" adopted, a practice production. The planning process not uncommon in Cuba where children demanded inordinate amounts of were raised by an "adoptive" family but no paperwork and little attention to worker legal papers were drawn up. As a result, in input. order to leave Cuba with my adoptive The government report also highlighted the family, the passport bore my birth name - political consequences of these problems. Ana Gonzalez-Barbon. At the age of Economism was pervasive. The pursuit of eleven, this name was as unfamiliar to me individual gain - excessive and often as the language and customs that illegal - was the overriding concern of confronted me in the United States. For many people. Economic mechanisms and years, teachers would call on me and I material incentives were displacing would not respond. Eventually, I was conciencia. Volunteer work had all but forced to accept that this was my name. I disappeared. Nepotism and sociolismo relinquished it as soon as I became an flourished. When transferred to new American citizen. positions, cadres frequently hired their n14. Mark Falcoff, Cuba as a Marxist- friends and relatives. Workers who Leninist Regime, in Cuban Communism denounced corruption often found 745, 746 (Irving Louis Horowitz ed., 7th themselves sidelined. When enforced, ed. 1989). sanctions were more common against people in lower levels of authority. n15. Id. Management usually failed to involve n16. The reference is to a government store workers in solving problems. State that was set up in the old Sears in Havana functionaries manifested disdain and where visiting Cubans paying strictly in disregard for public opinion and too often American dollars could purchase food, used state resources for private purposes. canned goods, and other items for their Too many enterprises showed families. discrepancies in cash transactions. n17. The campaign of rectification was designed to correct multiple problems Perez-Stable, supra note 8, at 156-157 identified by the government in a (citing Plan de accion contra las document it issued in 1986. irregularidades administrativas y los errores y debilidades del Sistema de
Direccion de la Economia, July 17, 1986 [The report] documented widespread [Plan of action against the administrative violations of regulations and lack of irregularities and errors and weakness of control over the economy. Work norms the System of Economic Planning]). were outdated salaries incommensurate to output. Marginal production-originally n18. "The special period was an attempt to meant to maximize use of residual reinsert the Cuban economy into the world materials - had superseded primary economy without relinquishing socialism production in many enterprises. Many and compromising national sovereignty to workers received a full day's pay for half a the United States." Id. at 158. The day's work for the state and spent the following story written around this period afternoons pursuing their private gain at from inside Cuba gives the reader an other jobs. Too often managers contracted accurate picture of the daily survival skilled labor at higher than prescribed process Cubans must deal with: wages without subsequently enforcing labor discipline to increase productivity. Roberto, a middle aged Health Ministry The investment process was chaotic and translator, had just gone through the agony wasteful. Frequently, many enterprises did of organizing a birthday party for this not enforce their budgets; sometimes, they three-year-old daughter. The preparations never developed one. State inspections had kept him busy for nearly a month. were generally ineffective... . Management regularly inflated prices to meet output in Long before the birthday, he had signed up value without regard to the quality of at a toy store to buy a present. His ration
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 card entitled him to three non-specified Andres Oppenheimer, Castro's Final Hour: toys every two years. This year, the only The Secret Behind the Coming Downfall available toys were rubber balls, dolls, and of Communist Cuba 375-76 (1992). miniature cars. He had chosen a Chinese n19. Castro made this statement on doll. After signing up and getting his December 2, 1961. See The Cuba Reader: number - he was number 73 - he had to The Making of a Revolutionary Society, show up every day at noon for the roll call. app. A at 529 (Philip Brenner et al. eds., If he failed to show up, he would lose his 1989). However, the official break of place. He had gotten the doll after making diplomatic relations between U.S. and regular appearances in the line for five Cuba occurred on January 3, 1961. On days in a row. April 16 of that year, the CIA sponsored To buy a birthday cake, he had signed up invasion of 1200 exiles landed at Playa two weeks earlier at the bakery, and got Giron (Bay of Pigs) and was defeated number 60 on the waiting list. He was within 72 hours. See Herbert L. Matthews, supposed to be in line every day for the 6 The Bay of Pigs, in The Cuba Reader: The p.m. roll call to keep his place. He would Making of a Revolutionary Society 331, go himself whenever he could, or send his 334-35 (Phillip Brenner et al. eds., 1989). mother in law, a senior citizen, to replace n20. In October 1962, a U.S. him when he was tied up at his job. reconnaissance aircraft photographed the The same procedure was necessary to construction of the intermediate range purchase soft drinks, which one could get ballistic missiles sites placed in Cuba by once a year for each family member's the Soviet Union triggering the now birthday. Roberto was number 32 on the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis, which list, and had to be in line every day at 7:30 nearly catapulted two superpowers into a p.m. to avoid losing his place. It took four nuclear war. President Kennedy demanded days of roll call to get the drinks. the withdrawal of the Soviet missiles and imposed the naval embargo. The crisis was Then, there was the problem of candy. resolved when the Soviet Union, without There had not been candy for several consulting Cuba, withdrew the missiles in months at supermarket or grocery stores. exchange for the U.S. pledge that it would After much scouting around, he finally not invade Cuba. See Scott Armstrong & heard that candy was being sold at the Philip Brenner, Putting Cuba and Crisis Havana zoo. Once there, he found out that Back in the Cuban Missile Crisis, in The each person was only allowed to buy two Cuba Reader, supra note 19, at 336-39. small bags. He queued up three times, for a Earlier that year, in January, "the total of six hours. The small confections Organization of American States (OAS) looked cheap and weren't wrapped, but launched the Alliance for Progress and they were better than nothing. suspended Cuba's membership." The Cuba After a long search for cellophane paper to Reader, supra note 19, at app. A, p.529. wrap up the candy, Roberto and his wife Castro reacted to this suspension "with the found it at a funeral home. They got a Second Declaration of Havana, calling sheet from the establishment's florist, cut it upon the People of Latin America to rise up, and wrapped the candy piece by piece. up against imperialism and declaring, "The The couple didn't even try to find birthday duty of a revolutionary is to make the balloons - nobody had seen any in years. revolution.'" Id. In 1962, food rationing Instead, they used what had become the begins and President Kennedy expands the standard birthday ornament in recent times embargo to include imports of all goods - condoms. made from or containing Cuban materials. "It's not very chic, but everybody uses n21. See generally Hugh Thomas, Cuba or them as birthday balloons," Roberto The Pursuit of Freedom (Da Capo Press, explained. "After a while, you forget what 1998). they are." n22. Robin Blackburn, Prologue to the Cuban Revolution, in The Cuba Reader, supra note 19, at 43.
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 n23. Hugh Thomas, Cuba c. 1750 - c. n42. Aguilar, supra note 31 at 39. U.S. 1860, in Cuba: A Short History 2 (Leslie Senator Orville H. Platt introduced as a Bethell ed., 1993). resolution an amendment composed of seven articles which required Cuba to n24. Id. include it as an appendix to its n25. Id. Constitution. Id. The effect of the Platt Amendment was to further restrict the n26. Id. at 2-4. sovereignty of Cuba; in particular Articles n27. Id. at 4. III and VII which respectively read as follows: n28. See id. at 5. There were four main causes of the prosperity during this period: III. That the government of Cuba consents
that the United States may exercise the first, the creation of a new market for sugar right to intervene for the preservation of at home in Spain and elsewhere - including Cuban independence, the maintenance of a the newly independent United States of government adequate for the protection of America; secondly the emergence of a life, property, and individual liberty, and class of landlords interested in developing for discharging the obligations with respect their land and promoting wealth, rather to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris on than in preserving status; thirdly, the the United States, now to be assumed and import of slaves from Africa to Cuba on a undertaken by the government of Cuba. far larger scale than before; and finally a series of far-reaching economic reforms ... . introduced by the enlightened ministers of VII. That to enable the United States to King Charles III, not least the lifting of maintain the independence of Cuba, and to many of the old bureacratic restraints on protect the people thereof, as well as for its trade. own defence, the government of Cuba will
sell or lease to the United States land Id. at 5. necessary for coaling or naval stations at n29. See id. at 9. certain specified points, to be agreed upon with the President of the United States. n30. See id. at 14-15. n31. See Luis E. Aguilar, Cuba, c. 1860 - Id. For the full text of the Platt c. 1930, in Cuba: A Short History 21 Amendment, see Brenner et al., supra note (Leslie Bethell ed., 1993). 36, at 30-31. n32. See id. at 21. n43. Leo Hubberman & Paul M. Sweezy, n33. See id. at 22. Background of a Revolution, in The Cuba Reader, supra note 19, at 14. n34. See id. n44. See Aguilar, supra note 31, at 40-41. n35. See id. at 21-23. n45. "The second American intervention n36. Phillip Brenner et al., Introduction to (1906-9), in spite of its briefness, had a Part I: The Setting of the Cuban profound impact on Cuban life. Brought Revolution, in The Cuba Reader, supra about by themselves, it seemed to justify note 19, at 2. Cuban doubts about their capacity for self- n37. See Aguilar, supra note 31, at 25. government. It undermined Cuban nationalism and reinforced the "Plattist n38. Louis A. Perez, Jr., Introduction to mentality' of relinquishing final political Jose Marti in the United States: The decisions to Washington." Id. at 43. Florida Experience 2 (1995). n46. See generally Aguilar, supra note 31, n39. Id. at 41-93. n40. See Brenner et al., supra note 36 at 2. n47. Leo Hubberman & Paul M. Sweezy, n41. Id. at 4. Background of a Revolution, in The Cuba
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 Reader, supra note 19, at 15. The second 1934, and he stayed in power, to the Cuban president to be elected was Jose further debasement of Cuban life, for Miguel Gomez (1909-1912). See Aguilar, another ten years. Whether the supra note 31, at 43. "Nicknamed "the administration in Washington was Shark,' he inaugurated an era of public reactionary or liberal, whether the Platt corruption. During his terms cockfighting Amendment was on the books or not, the and the national lottery, previously long arm of United States power was never condemned as "colonial vices,' were re- absent from Cuba. And the results were established, the lottery evolving into an always the same-good for North American efficient machine of political debasement." capitalists, bad for the Cuban people. Id. General Mario Menocal, a conservative engineering graduate from Cornell Leo Hubberman & Paul M. Sweezy, University, had been a distinguished Background of a Revolution, in The Cuba military leader and a successful Reader, supra note 19, at 15. A number of administrator of a large sugar mill in Cuba. Batista's puppet presidents served in the Id. at 44-45. He was elected and served for 1930's: Jose A. Barnet (1935-1936); two terms (1913-1921). Id. at 45-47. Miguel Mariano Gomez (1936); Federico During his first term, he met his electoral Laredo Bru (1936-1940). Louis A. Perez, promises, but during his second term in Cuba, c. 1930-1959, in Cuba: A Short office "corruption became rampant, History, supra note 23, at 74. In 1940, fraudulent practices occurred in every Sergeant Fulgencio Batista was elected election, and in spite of economic president. Id. at 78. Batista served until prosperity the president's popularity 1944, followed by Ramon Grau San consistently declined." Id. at 45-46. In Martin (1944-1948) and Carlos Prio 1921, Alfredo Zayas assumed the Socarras (1948-1952). Id. at 79. Batista presidency. Id. at 48. He "was a cultivated, returned to power in 1952 remaining until opportunistic lawyer almost totally free of he fled on New Year's Eve in 1959. Id. at moral scruples." Id. One of the two worst 83-93. presidents of Cuba followed: General n48. See Aguilar, supra note 31, at 46-48. Gerardo Machado ("The Butcher") who served from 1924 to 1933. Leo Hubberman n49. See id. at 49-50. & Paul M. Sweezy, Background of a n50. Id. at 50. Revolution, in The Cuba Reader, supra note 19, at 15. That year Sergeant n51. See Leo Hubberman & Paul M. Fulgencio Batista overthrew the military Sweezy, Background of a Revolution, in government and Ramon Grau San Martin The Cuba Reader, supra note 19, at 14; see and Antonio Guiteras established the new also supra note 44 and accompanying text. revolutionary government which lasted n52. See Brenner et al., supra note 36, at 2. four months. Aguilar, supra note 31, at 54.
The long struggle against Machado and the [Grau San Martin] introduced a series of turbulent period following his downfall necessary reform measures designed to have characteristics usually attributed to alleviate the miserable conditions of the true revolutionary phenomena: violence, poor, made worse than ever by the Great participation of the masses, radical Depression. Such reforms were what the programs, and some basic changes in the island needed-but they were not what the social and political structure of the nation. privileged upper class of Cubans or By profoundly shaking the political order American interests wanted. So the in Cuba, by defying with a measure of administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt success the hitherto unchallenged position which, to its credit, abrogated the Platt of the United States, and by partially Amendment, withheld recognition from applying some of the radical ideas and the Grau government and Grau was ousted programs that had been gaining ground from office. The recognition that was since the 1920s, revolutionary groups of denied Grau was granted to Batista when 1933 effected a profound change in Cuba. he became the "strong man" of Cuba in The revitalization of nationalism, the
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 opening of new economic opportunities for n58. Lawrence H. Theriot, Cuba Faces the several national sectors, and the weakening Economic Realities of the 1980's, in Cuban of foreign dominance in Cuba were some Communism 257 (Irving L. Horowitz ed., of the consequences of their actions. 7th ed. 1989).
n59. Undoubtedly under Cuban-American Louis E. Aguilar, The Revolution of 1933, pressure, Congress sought to intensify in The Cuba Reader, supra note 19, at 20. economic sanctions to "increase pressure n53. Id. at 21. for peaceful democratic change in Cuba and deter international involvement with n54. Matthew Reiss, The Batista-Lansky property claimed by U.S. citizens that had Alliance: How the Mafia and a Cuban been expropriated without compensation Dictator Built Havana's Casino's, Cigar by the Cuban government." In February Aficionado, June 2001, at 147. 1996, Cuban MiGs shot down two civilian n55. Id. aircrafts in international air space, killing three U.S. citizens and one U.S. resident. n56. In 1955, the Batista government The Helms-Burton Act was then passed by passed a law granting a gaming license to overwhelming margins. anyone who invested $ 1 million in a hotel or $ 200,000 in a new nightclub. And that n60. Bonne et al., The Homeland Belongs meant anyone. Unlike the procedure for to Us All, available at acquiring gaming licenses in Vegas, this http://www.fiu.edu/
you will be able to support us if we can Id. at 149. agree on this initial assertion: n57. In addition to political problems, Man cannot live from history, which is the Cuba confronted five crucial socio- same as living from stories. There is a need economic problems: for material goods and for satisfying his spirituality, as well as to be able to look to the slow rate of economic growth, sugar the future with expectations. But there is monoculture or the excessive significance also a need for that openness that we all of this product in the generation of GNP know as freedom. and exports, the overwhelming dependence The Cuban government ignores the word on the United States in regard to "opposition." Those of us who do not share investment and trade, the high rates of its political stance, or who just simply unemployment and underemployment, and don't support it, are considered enemies the significant inequalities in living and any number of other scornful standards, particularly between urban and designations that it chooses to proclaim. rural areas. Thus, they have also sought to give a new
meaning to the world "Homeland" that is Carmelo Mesa-Lago, The distortedly linked to Revolution, Prerevolutionary Economy and an Socialism, and Nation. They attempt to Overview of Policy, in The Cuba Reader, ignore the fact that "Homeland," by supra note 19, at 63 (Phillip Brenner et al. definition, is the country in which one is eds., 1989). born.
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133
Id. The first of these is the failure to produce anything resembling sustained economic n62. See Cigar Aficionado, June 2001. growth... . The second stress proceeds from n63. James Suckling, Dreaming of Cuba, the first - a generalized sense of political The Fabled Island Begins to Offer Choices alienation and spiritual fatigue felt by large for Sophisticated Travelers, Cigar sectors of Cuban society, which for 25 Aficionado, June 2001, at 69. years have had to subsist on a steady diet of promises and exhortations, juxtaposed n64. The articles covered topics such as against recurrent shortages and draconic "Places Worth Staying," "A world Class rationing. As Carlos Alberto Montaner Resort," "Havana After Dark," "The Best reports, today in Cuba "the majority of the Cuban Cigars," "Investing in Cuba," and people no longer believes that the regime's "When the Mafia Ruled Havana." Cigar mistakes are partial or that they can be Aficionado, June 2001. corrected." Rather, they believe "quite n65. Supra note 62, at 70. simply that the system does not work, and that it is never going to provide them with n66. Cuba is now the fastest growing either happiness or prosperity." This is tourist destination in the Caribbean, and particularly true for those under 25 years for good reason. It remains an icon for of age for whom the heroic days of the many of the good things in life, from revolution are "foreign and remote." music to history to cigars. (Yet, nearly all of Cuba's hotels and restaurants remain out The third proceeds from Castro's self- of the reach of most Cubans, either due to appointed role as a paladin of revolution in expense-the average Cuban salary is $ 25 a the Third World, particularly in lands month-or because they are declared distant from Cuba both geographically and officially off-limits to Cubans by the culturally. government.
Mark Falcoff, Cuba as a Marxist-Leninist Id. at 70. See also PaxChristi Cuba Regime, in Cuban Communism 746-48 Report: Tourism, at (Irving L. Horowitz ed., 1989) (footnotes http://www.cubacenter.org/media/recentbriefs/paxchristic.html#tourism
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133 the depth of those feelings, reconciliation Communism 810 (Irving L. Horowitz ed., cannot effectively occur without 1989). understanding and acknowledgment on n70. Perez, supra note 38, at 3 (quoting both sides. I think that we who would like speech by Jose Marti made in 1891). to see more communication and opening up of the island must acknowledge and respect, not just belittle and ridicule the sensibilities of the other side. I don't know if acknowledgment that falls short of endorsement will be satisfactory, and I recognize that there is ample intransigence in that community, but I think that it has a chance of succeeding, at least with some people, perhaps younger people, whereas I think that ignoring the feelings is certain to lead to nothing but recrimination and acrimony. Fourth, we really need to work toward reconciliation and reunification. Enough with the pain. It has cost us; it continues to cost us; it affects our lives and the lives of those we love, and there just has to be a better way. It's time to develop a more constructive paradigm. As I said before, I think the development of that paradigm must include an acknowledgment of the pain and loss suffered on both sides. We can't ignore the past and the feelings the past generated. Rather, we must acknowledge it and move forward.
Electronic communications (on file with the author). See also Francisco Valdes, Diaspora and Deadlock, Miami and Havana: Coming to Terms With Dreams and Dogmas, 55 U. Fla. L. Rev. 283, 313- 315 (2003) (offering five basic guideposts toward a third way: 1) Stay independent of the prevalent bipolarities and their politics of oppression; 2) Insist on critical (and self-critical) approaches to Cuban reconciliation and reconstruction; 3) Frame reconciliation and reconstruction around egalitarian vindication of the "three generations of human rights; 4) Commit to the project of reconciliation and reconstruction to the proactive social and legal dismantling of Euroheteropatriarchy; 5) Demand disgorgement of unjust riches and reallocation of social goods as integral to Cuba's reconstruction as a post- subordination society). n69. See Ernesto Betancourt, Cuban Leadership after Castro, in Cuban
54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1133